I'm in Gryffindor?
by writercastle
Summary: Draco Malfoy is forced to go into Gryffindor after setting fire to Hermione's robes, causing the whole Gryffindor table to go up in flames. Can he survive this new found torture?...and even began to, dare I say, get along and fall in love with someone in
1. Somebody's in Trouble

**Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own Harry Potter or anything else that the amazing JK Rowling has created.**

**I'm in Gryffindor!**

**Somebody's in trouble**

Draco Malfoy was the boy everyone either hated or loved. There was no mix between. And that line between hate and love rested between the Hogwarts Houses. Slytherin, of course, all thought of Draco as a god. Gryffindor, however, saw him as scum. They wanted nothing to do with the young Malfoy.

It was the first week back of Harry Potter's 6th year and already he could tell that it was going to be troublesome year. Slytherins glared at him behind his back and threatened him up close. At the end of Harry's 5th year, he had been in a battle at the Ministry of Magic which ended with the death of his godfather, Sirius, as well as the capture of many death eaters, most of whom were fathers of Slytherins.

Thus, another year for Harry Potter of death threats everywhere he goes, Gryffindors glaring right back at the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws wisely staying out of their way.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were all settled nicely in their favorite armchairs by the fire on their first weekend back. Ron and Harry were engaged in a game of wizard's chess, while Hermione and Ginny were discussing Hermione's OWL results.

"Honestly, Hermione. You don't need to be so upset about getting one E. It's a hard class! Ron and Harry both failed it!"

"But History of Magic is such an important subject! I just know Professor Binns is going to advise me to drop the class. He only wants the best in there" the girl sobbed.

Ginny, patting her back sympathetically said "Well, then, why don't you just drop the class? You've got a full schedule, Mione, you can't overload yourself! Not when you've started your NEWTS."

"Maybe you're right" Hermione let out a sigh. "But what's Professor Binns going to say? He'll think I'm a quitter!"

"Trust me, I doubt Binns will even realize you're gone!" The red head said with a smile.

At that moment Ron's stomach gave a large growl. "Harry, can we please hurry this up so we can go get some lunch? It's been ages!"

"Check mate!" Harry said, standing up, victoriously.

"What? You can't have won!" Ron said staring back at the chess board. "You must have done something when my stomach growled"

"Nope, I won fair and square. Besides, weren't you just complaining about not getting food? Now we can go down to the Great Hall for some food."

"I mean can we hurry up and let me win, not you!" He grumbled. "Alright, let's just go. Ginny, Hermione, you two coming?"

"Yes! I'm famished" His sister responded eagerly standing up.

As the four Gryffindors made their way down the stairs towards the Great Hall, they came across Malfoy and his cronies, Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy merely sneered at them as they crossed paths while Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckles threateningly. Malfoy murmured something along the lines of "have a good lunch, Mudblood" before stalking away, an evil grin on his face.

"Okay, Malfoy's up to something" Ron said, his face turning red at Malfoy calling Hermione that awful name.

"Just ignore him, please!" Hermione begged, not wanting to get in trouble if Ron decided to break out in a duel.

As the Gryffindors walked into the Great Hall and sat down at their table, they noticed Malfoy walking in a few minutes after them, sitting down at his table. Ignoring it, they continued to eat in peace, but Harry and Ron had one hand inside their robe, gripping their wands.

As Hermione reached her hand towards the pumpkin juice sitting across the table, she let out a shriek. "My robes! My robes!" She cried.

Harry spit out the pumpkin juice he had just put in his mouth as he saw Hermione's robes on fire at the arm. When Hermione shrieked, her arm hit the tablecloth, setting fire to that, as well. Soon, the whole Gryffindor table was up in flames.

"_Aguamenti!"_ Ron shouted, pointing his wand at Hermione's robes which hissed and went out. The Gryffindors who hadn't fled the scene soon copied his example and put out parts of the fire around where they had been sitting.

Dumbledore, arriving at the scene, put out the rest of the fire with a flick of his wand. Twinkle gone from his eye, he looked very seriously at Hermione. "Miss Granger, if you would be so kind as to tell me what happened."

"I- I don't know." She stuttered, not knowing what to say. "I was just reaching for the pitcher of pumpkin juice when my arm caught fire and set fire to the whole table."

"Malfoy!" Ron cursed under his breath. Turning to look at the red head, Dumbledore asked "What was that, Mr. Weasley?"

"It was Malfoy! Just before we got here, he told Hermione 'Have a nice lunch, Mudblood'. I knew he was going to do something! But I didn't think he'd do all this" he finished, looking around the ash covered table which had many burns along it.

"If what you're saying is true, Mr. Weasley, I will have to have a very serious talk with Mr. Malfoy. Very serious indeed." Dumbledore said as he walked back up towards the head table, summoning Professor McGonagall and Snape. As the three Professors walked out of the Great Hall, the four teenagers looked at the table in awe.

"I can't believe this…I just can't believe Malfoy would do something this bad! He could get expelled!" Hermione said softly.

"Do you really think so?" The red head boy exclaimed. "Oh man! How great would that be? Think of it: No more Malfoy!" he finished, a dreamy expression on his face.

"Ron! This is serious!" Hermione said, hitting the boy in the back of the head. "What if someone had gotten hurt? What if someone had died?"

The smirk on Ron's face now gone, the Gryffindor merely shrugged. "Oh, common, Mione. You know that would never happen. Dumbledore would have stopped it before anything bad happened."

"You saw how far that fire got to me!" She protested, showing him her sleeve, or well, lack there of. In truth, the fire had blazed across the whole side of her body, almost reaching to her face.

"But I put the fire out and now you're fine. Everything's alright. Malfoy's going to be expelled. I just know it."

Harry, having stayed particularly quite during the whole fiasco chimed in, "Look, why don't we just go back up to the common room. We can discuss what's going to happen to Malfoy in there, but I don't like the look the Slytherin's are giving us."

Turning around, Hermione, Ron and Ginny saw the Slytherin table where they were all getting malicious looks. "Probably because we lived" Ron mumbled, turning to walk towards the Entrance Hall.

As they made their way back up to the common room, they saw Neville Longbottom standing outside the portrait, looking around cautiously, his robes looked burnt.

"Thank goodness you're here! I forgot the password and some Slytherin's were after me as I tried to leave the Great Hall. They started trying to burn me further but I got away. I didn't know if they followed me or not."

"Forget the password again?" Harry said with a faint smile as the clumsy boy nodded. "It's 'Victory'." He said as the Fat Lady swung open, revealing their common room.

The five students climbed inside and sat in their usual spots, Ron fantasizing about Malfoy being kicked out of the school while Hermione pulled out her homework and Harry and Ginny played a game of wizard's chess. Neville had gone back into his dorm to get a new pair of robes. Hermione just took them off and set them behind her seat, not feeling the need to be wearing her robes for just sitting in the common room.

After about an hour or so of doing, well, nothing, the portrait swung open again, McGonagall entering. She didn't go into the common room very often and when she did, it usually wasn't very good news. The room got quite quickly while everyone focused their attention on the teacher, knowing what it was about: Malfoy's fate.

"As you all know," she began, keeping her voice very calm, Ron couldn't tell if it was good or bad news. "A very serious crime was committed during lunch. We have found the person behind it and he has confessed by the help of Veritaserum, the truth potion. Mr. Malfoy has agreed to his punishment, although, rather resentfully." She added with a frown. "But, nonetheless, he has agreed and that is why I am talking to all of you. The Slytherin house has been, well, we'll say, not a good example, on Mr. Malfoy, and so, we've decided to change his house." At this, Ron looked at Harry who looked at Hermione who looked at Ginny who returned the look to Ron; all knowing what was going to come next. "Mr. Malfoy will be spending, perhaps, the remainder of the year in the Gryffindor house. I expect for you all to treat him like family and he should get the same treatment as you give each other." She said, giving Ron a sharp look. "If I hear anything about a Gryffindor mistreating the boy, the culprit will be punished. Do I make myself clear?" The room nodded slowly, all faces looked aghast.

_A Malfoy? Here? In Gryffindor? _There was something seriously wrong with that. McGonagall, knowing what was going through all the students' minds, merely ignored them and walked back out the portrait, returning a moment later with Draco Malfoy.

He no longer had his typical smug look on his face. In fact, he looked downright scared. _Where's a camera when you need one?_ Ron though furiously, laughing internally at the look upon the Slytherin's face.

"Well, that's all, I believe. Mr. Malfoy," she said, turning towards the boy, "your stuff has already been brought to your room. You will be sharing with Mr. Finnigan, Thomas, Weasley, and Potter. I expect you all to treat each other well and I don't want to hear any complaints out of you." She finished, looking at all the boys. "Good night." She said shortly and exited the room.

Malfoy immediately went straight through the crowed of shocked Gryffindors, up the staircase and found his way to his room. He saw that there was an extra bed in the room with his luggage at it. Ignoring the fact that it wasn't even dinner yet, he fell on his bed, closing the curtains around him, disgusted at the Red and Gold colors everywhere. He tried his hardest to fall asleep, knowing that it was all in vain and when he woke up, it wouldn't all be a dream. He would wake up in the same bed around the same hideous colors and the horrible people whom he had fought so hardly to stay away from and ignore.

_This is going to be a _long_ year_. He thought sadly to himself.

**Author's Notes:**

Okay, well, this is my attempt at a humor/romance.

It's only chapter one! It'll get better, I promise!

I would love for all your comments and review, so let me know what you think! And if you hate it, tell me that and give me some tips on how to make it better!

Thanks guys!


	2. New Projects

**Disclaimer: After two days since my last entry, I still, unfortunately, do not own the rights to Harry Potter or anything else by JK Rowling.**

**New Projects**

It had been two days since Malfoy had joined the Gryffindors and already he was wondering why he didn't choose expulsion. The Gryffindors didn't really bother him much; in fact, they ignored him as much as they could. The problem was their remarks that they made to each other behind his back. Or, what they thought was behind his back. He would hear their comments about him and what they think about him, but he knew he couldn't do anything to stop him. He was too out-numbered.

Malfoy tried to spend most of his time hiding in his dorm, closing the drapes around his four poster. The other boys tried to ignore his being there, but they knew they could no longer make rude remarks about Slytherins in their room with him in there.

When classes began again on Monday, Malfoy had been given a new schedule so that he can have all his classes with Gryffindors. That meant having only two classes with Slytherins: Potions and Care of Magical Creatures. They had double potions on Tuesday mornings and regular on Friday afternoons. Care of Magical Creatures was on Wednesday mornings and Thursday afternoon.

When Malfoy first walked into the Great Hall on Monday morning, he instinctively went towards the Slytherin table before realizing he could no longer sit with his friends. Walking towards the Gryffindor table, he sat at the end of the table, shooting death glares to anyone who did so much as look at him or dare speak to him simply asking him to pass the toast.

When the bell rang, Malfoy went towards Transfiguration before remembering that he no longer had that class at this time, but instead had Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. When he arrived at the classroom, just before the bell rang, he didn't know where to sit. Usually he sat between Crabbe and Goyle, but now he was in a room surrounded by all faces he couldn't stand. The only available seat was next to Hermione, so, with a sigh, he took it, refusing to look at her.

Hermione, of course, was not happy about the arrangement either. He was, after all, the person who set fire to her robes and could have done some serious harm to her or any of her friends at the table. She tried her best to avoid noticing he was there, but it proved to be impossible when he smacked his gum loudly.

Professor Baxter (the new DADA teacher) quitted the class down before beginning his lesson.

"Today, class, we're going to be starting a new assignment. While it's not really related with Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Dumbledore has asked all the 6th year classes to participate starting with their first class on Monday.

"This class will be dividing into pairs and with your partner; you will be beginning a new…project, if you will. In this project, you will be teamed up with your partner and practicing life when you leave Hogwarts. Most of you, who don't choose to move back home, will be living with a friend, thus the partner. You will be moving into separate rooms, outside of your house ("_Yes!" Malfoy thought to himself. "That was easy")_. And you will be there for a month minimum. Depending on how Professor Dumbledore thinks the project is going, he may make it longer. In this project, you will be faced with many challenges such as dealing with these Dark times, getting a job, supporting each other, and getting along. Some of you will not enjoy your partner, but with time, you will learn to get along and work very well together."

"I'm sorry, sir," Ron started, "you said we may not like our partner? Do you mean we don't get to pick?"

"Well, you do, in a manner of speaking. Whomever you chose to sit next to today will be your partner, so, you will be with Mr. Potter".

At this moment, Hermione and Malfoy looked at each other, hate filled in Malfoy's eyes and desperation filled in Hermione's. "Sir," Hermione said, raising her hand, "Sir, is there anyway these partners could be…switched?" she asked, looking hopeful.

"I'm afraid not, Miss Granger. Dumbledore said it must be the person you're sitting next to. When you sat down in your seat, a magical bond grew between you and your partner making it impossible to be partners with anyone else."

Hermione, upon hearing this, put her face in her hands, refusing to look at anyone. Malfoy simply started hitting his head on the desk as hard as he could thinking that if he were to make himself unconscious he might get out of the project.

"I'm sorry Mr. Malfoy and Miss Granger; there is nothing I can do. If you have a problem with your partner, try speaking to Professor Dumbledore about it. I don't know if there's anything he can do, but it couldn't hurt to try. I think that you and Mr. Malfoy could learn to get along quite well, though!"

Ron and Harry both gave Hermione pitying looks before they turned and looked at each other with a grin knowing how easy it would be for them to get along and get an O on their project.

"Look Granger," Malfoy said, finally raising his head and looking at the poor girl. "We'll go talk to Dumbledore as soon as class is over. He knows we'd kill each other if we were stuck in a house together. He'll let us get out of it and put us with people we actually belong with."

"Fine." Hermione said, not wanting to think about it anymore.

For the rest of the period Professor Baxter reviewed with them, wanting to know all of what they've learned over the past five years so that he can teach them something new. When the bell finally rung, Malfoy and Hermione stayed behind and then headed towards Dumbledore's office together, neither looking at one another.

"Erm, you don't know the password, do you?" Malfoy asked with a tentative glance at the girl.

"No…I don't. I suppose we could just guess." She responded, looking at the dead-still gargoyles. "Licorice wand?" No movement. "Bertie Botts Every-Flavored Beans? Oh wait, Harry told me Dumbledore didn't like those. Oh look! Professor McGonagall's coming this way! Professor!" She said to the oncoming teacher.

"Yes, Miss Granger? Something I can help you with?"

"Yes Professor. You see, Malfoy and I were stuck together in partners for the new project for the 6th years and, well, we were trying to talk to Professor Dumbledore to see if we could…change it."

"I'm afraid there's absolutely no changing once the partner's have been assigned, Miss Granger. You and Mr. Malfoy will learn to get along in time, I'm sure. I have faith in you." And with that, the Professor walked down the hall and disappeared from view.

Malfoy's mouth hung open. "You've got to be kidding me! I cannot be stuck with a Mudblood for a partner! How am I supposed to do well?" he sulked.

"You'll start by learning not to call me that awful name" Hermione threatened, clinging onto her wand by her side so hard that her hands began to sweat.

"Look, Granger, I'll call you whatever I want and there's nothing you can do about it."

At that moment, Dumbledore came down from his office almost walking right into the students by his doorway. "Call Miss Granger what, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Oh," Malfoy began, turning red, something that Hermione had never seen before. "Nothing, sir. We were actually just coming to talk to you. We want out of our arrangement for our projects. We got partnered together and we know that we can't complete the project if we don't get separated."

"I'm afraid that's quite impossible, Mr. Malfoy. You and Miss Granger are magically bonded together and trying to break that bond could have severe consequences. I'm sure you and Miss Granger will learn to get along just fine and by the end of this little…adventure, you may even get along." Dumbledore said with a slight smile.

"Not likely" Malfoy said under his breath.

"Well, good day to both of you and I will see you at lunch." He said as he walked down the corridor as he, too, disappeared from view.

"First I get stuck in Gryffindor and I'm now I'm stuck with you for a partner! What could possibly make this day worse?"

At that moment, Peeves came floating down the corridor and spotting the twin innocent students, began pelting them both with bubble gum, getting it stuck in their hair, followed by breaking a large water balloon on top of Malfoy's head.

As they both headed towards their next class, Herbology, Malfoy was fuming. Hermione had used a simple spell to get the gum out of her hair, when she offered to help Malfoy out, he refused saying that he was more than capable of doing it himself. In the end, Malfoy's hair was gumless, but had turned a bright shade of bubblegum pink. Malfoy's mood had not improved as they arrived down at the greenhouses. Class had already started, so he was stuck with Hermione for a partner again and her bossiness gets very old after a while.

When it was time for lunch, Malfoy sat at the end of the table again, not speaking to anyone and left as soon as he was done to sit in the library. He had free period after this and he wasn't sure what he was going to do now that he couldn't spend it in the Slytherin common room. About five minutes after he arrived in the library, Hermione came in looking for books on plants for her Herbology homework. She saw Malfoy and after some careful thought, she got the book she needed and went to sit down across from him.

"Look" she said quickly before he could tell her to leave, "I know you don't want to be partnered with me, and believe me, you're the last person I want to be partnered with, but let's just try to get along, alright? Professor Baxter said we'd have to stay in our arrangement longer if we don't get along and I think that's the last thing the two of us need."

Malfoy, having not looked up from the spot in the book he was focusing on, hoping that if he ignored her long enough that she would disappear, finally looked up and looked her right in the eye. "Alright, Granger, you want to pretend to be all buddy-buddy and get along, that's your thing, but as for me, I've got a Slytherin and Malfoy reputation to live up and there's no way I'm going to ruin that for some stupid project. Even if I'm not in Slytherin anymore…" he trailed off.

"Fine, but didn't you volunteer to go into Gryffindor so that you wouldn't get expelled? You wouldn't want to cause more trouble by refusing to do a project, would you? Besides, if you agree to do this and try to act civilized, you'd only have to deal with me and not all the other Gryffindors. So, what do you say?" She asked, reaching out her hand.

"Fine. We'll try it your bloody way, but if you start to annoy me, I won't hesitate to curse you. You actually want me to touch a Mudblood?" He said, looking down at her outstretched hand.

Taking away her hand, she added, "And that's another thing. No more name calling. I'll call you Draco and you call me Hermione. Got it?"

"Whatever." He said, sighing. "Now would you mind leaving? I would want people to actually think we talked."

"You don't have to worry about any of your Slytherins coming in here. I doubt any of them can read." She responded coldly as she got up and walked towards the door. "See you around Draco."

The next day when they were in Transfiguration, McGonagall began the lesson by explaining more about their project.

"In this project, you and your partner will share a small house. This will consist of a common room, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. You may have other people over to your house, but there will be no inappropriate activities allowed. The houses will each have a password that yourselves and the teachers will know. If at any time a teacher checks up on you and/or your partner and there is anything inappropriate in the room, that student will be expelled. Do I make myself clear?" The room nodded. "Good. Now, as for classes, they will carry on as normal, except once a week, you and your partner will have to go to 'work'. By 'work' I mean, they will have a job around the castle. Some of you might be teachers or tutors, others might be caretakers and help Filch out, and others will have various other jobs.

"But that's like going to detention every week!" Malfoy protested.

McGonagall carried on like she didn't hear him. "If you fail to show up to work, you will be docked points. If you are late, you will be docked points. If you leave before you have permission, you will be docked points. And, to answer your question, Mr. Malfoy, no, it will not be like detention because you will be paid."

"Paid!" The students chorused out, excitedly. "Yes!" Ron yelled. "Finally!"

"Your projects will begin tomorrow night. Good luck to you all. Your assignments will be given to you when you reach your house. I trust all of you will behave well…" She trailed off, looking at each of them in the eye, lingering on Ron and Harry.

"Well, this won't be so bad, will it?" Hermione said, looking at Draco full of hope.

"What do you mean this won't be so bad? We've got to work! I've never done that in my life!" He said with a groan.

"Well, there's a first time for everything!" She responded with a smile.

**Author's Notes:**

Okay, so what do you all think so far?

Let me know if there's anything I should change.

I love all of your suggestions.

We'll start to see some of the changes in everybody in the next chapter.

I love all your inputs and review and I will change my story accordingly.

Thanks all.


	3. The Astronomy Tower

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter. If you think I do, something is severely wrong with you.

And now, onto the long chapter I've been trying to write!

The Astronomy Tower

The next day seemed to fly by before the 6th years' eyes. Next thing they knew, they were down at dinner, about to begin their new projects. Hermione was sitting with Harry and Ron and they were just finishing when a nervous-looking Ginny sat down between Hermione and Harry holding a letter.

"What's up, Gin?" Harry asked, looking at her carefully.

"Fred and George…they're coming to visit Hogwarts next weekend." She responded, looking scared.

"Well that's good! I haven't seen them in ages!" Harry said with a grin. "Why do you look so upset?"

"It's bloody well not good! Here, just read the letter." She said, thrusting the letter into his hands. Harry read aloud:

_Our dearest sister Ginny,_

_It has been much too long since we saw you last and we thought we'd pay you a visit! We can't wait to spend a weekend with you and hex, erm, I mean, meet any boy that you might be with right now. We're going to be stopping by Hogwarts next weekend and we thought we'd come stay in the Gryffindor dorms with you and Ron and Harry and Hermione. Can't wait to see you, little sis. Miss you._

_Your favorite brothers,_

_Fred and George_

_P.S. We thought we'd bring along some of our newer products to test and sell! But try to keep that a secret. Wouldn't want to ruin the surprise, now would you? See you soon._

"So…what's so bad about them wanting to come see you?" Harry asked, looking downright confused.

"Do you understand why they want to see me? It's not me they want to see! That's just their excuse! They just want to test their new products to see if they're worth selling or not! This is going to be a nightmare! And none of you will be in the Gryffindor tower because you all have your bloody project!"

"Ah…I see what you mean. Don't worry, Gin. I'm sure we're allowed to stay in the tower for a night or two, besides; Ron and I will keep a close watch on whatever they do. They, erm, owe me anyways. They won't try anything on me at least."

"What do they owe you?" Ron asked with interest.

"I'll tell you later." Harry responded quickly.

Ron merely shrugged and grabbed some Shepard's Pie, stuffing it in his face.

"I'm not very hungry." Ginny said, looking quite pale. "It'll be good to see Fred and George again. I mean, they always liked me best and treated me like their triplet, but I still don't ant to even think about the mayhem they'll cause here."

At that moment, Dumbledore stood up from his chair and the room became quite immediately.

"As you 6th years finish your food," he began, looking at all the house tables in turn, "please, head towards the entrance hall where you will be given instruction as how your projects are going to work and what your assignments will be." He finished and sat down again, whispering something into McGonagall's ear before rising once again and walking out the doors into the Entrance hall. Harry, Ron and Hermione raised slowly, each saying goodbye to Ginny and in turn, she wished them luck, and they went into the Entrance hall where students were already assembling.

About ten minutes later, all the 6th years had filed into the hall and were talking quietly amongst themselves. Hermione noticed that Draco, although he still sat alone at the end of the Gryffindor table, was standing with Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, and Blaise, each of them looking hesitantly around. Crabbe and Goyle would be partners as would Pansy and Blaise. Draco was staying with them as long as he could before he was fated to room with the filthy Mudblood he had loathed for so many years.

Draco had turned to look at Hermione the same time she looked at him; they both turned away immediately, Hermione, blushing slightly and Draco becoming unnerved. Neither of them was clear as to why, but they didn't want to think about it. At that moment, Dumbledore addressed the group.

"I would firstly like to thank you all for participating with very little complaints." ("Ha. Yeah, right." Thought Draco, angrily.) "And I would like to waste as little of your time as possible so that you may begin your projects.

"As you have been instructed, I presume, you and your partner will be sharing a dorm somewhere in the castle for the next month minimum. After that month, it will be decided on whether or not your project is over. You will be assigned jobs based on what you're best at and will be paid. Your grade will be based on your job, how you act with your partner, and how well you keep your dorms clean. They will be checked on at random times, so it is best to keep it well-kept at all times just to be safe. You are allowed to go into each other's dorms with the owner's permission. If you and your partner do not seem to get along, there will be certain…_challenges_ you two will be required to face. I believe that's everything you need to know. If you would all please now get with your partner and line up with them in front of me and I will give you a map of where your room is along with a password."

The students slowly started to move towards Dumbledore, most of them already with their partner, and lined up. Hermione stayed with Harry and Ron, hoping Malfoy would catch on to come to her.

He didn't.

With a sigh, she walked over to him, looked at him in the eye, well, nearly. She still had trouble making eye contact with him, and said, "Common Mal-Draco. We may as well get this over with." She then got in line with him behind Harry and Ron, Crabbe and Goyle lining behind Hermione and Draco, and Pansy and Blaise behind Crabbe and Goyle.

The line moved slowly.

As Harry and Ron finally reached the front of the line, Dumbledore handed them a map explaining to them that their dorm was starred and their password was written in the margin. They were advised to rip off the password and burn it as soon as they got to their room, so that no one could see it. They nodded, showing they understood and stood off to the side, opening their map and waiting for Hermione to finish.

Hermione and Draco got their map and instructions and stood beside Harry and Ron, Draco wanting to wait for his friends.

Hermione took the map from Draco's hands and opened it, looking for the star. She discovered that they were on the 7th floor next to the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. That meant they were right next to the Room of Requirements.

Hermione looked at Harry and Ron's map, a grin spreading over her face as she saw that they were only one floor below them. Crabbe and Goyle would be on the 4th floor and Pansy and Blaise were on the 6th floor, across the hall from Harry and Ron.

"Well, I suppose we should be going then." Draco said at long last, giving a tentative glance towards his friends.

"Yeah…I have some homework I need to finish anyway." Hermione said sorrowfully. Ron and Harry exchanged glances, trying not to laugh. It was the first time they had ever heard Hermione seemed upset about doing homework.

As they reached the 6th floor, Hermione and Draco bid their friends goodbye, telling them that they would stop by tomorrow morning so that they could walk down to breakfast together, and began to walk the dreaded staircase towards their dorm.

They reached the statue of Barnabas, but there was no door along the blank wall.

"A door will probably appear when we say the password." Draco said, remembering that his old Common Room was the same way.

"Well, I suppose we should go in, then." Hermione said, looking pale. Spending a month with Draco Malfoy could in no possible way be anything but torture.

Looking at the map again, Draco saw the password for the first time. "You've got to be kidding me." He muttered. "I miss my Slytherin password! That was at least logical. This is utter nonsense."

Hermione glanced at the password and laughed. It was taken from her favorite book growing up, Peter Pan.

"I refuse to say this. You're going to have to open it for me every time." Draco said flatly.

"Don't be such a baby." Hermione stated, looking at the blank wall. She was used to a picture being there to tell the password to.

"Well, at least there's no bloody picture anymore. That bloody Fat Lady was getting on my nerves! In Slytherin all we had was a blank wall. Looks like it's the same here. Alright, go ahead, say it."

"Pixie dust." Hermione said, grinning.

As soon as the words left her mouth, a large, wooden door appeared next to the statue. Draco grabbed the handle and opened it slowly, and peered inside.

_This won't be so bad_. He thought to himself as he walked in. The Common Room was painted an off-white color, but most of the furniture in the room, including the couch, chairs, the small dining table, and rug on the mahogany floor was a deep green.

Hermione followed him in, positively hating the coloring. It was too…Slytherinish for her. There was a mahogany coffee table and a red counter, but that was the only furniture in a different color than green.

The first thing she noticed was on the counter was a piece of parchment welcoming them into their dorm from their head of house, Professor McGonagall. It reminded them of the rules and told them that their jobs would be given to them the following day.

They then looked at the back wall, noticing three doors. The middle was the bathroom consisting of a bath/shower combo, toilet, large two-sink counter, and two cabinets; one for each of their toiletries.

The door on the left led to Draco's room and the door on the right to Hermione's room. They then went their separate ways the explored their new rooms. Hermione's was fit just to her liking. All her belongings had been brought into the room already. Her books were neatly organized in a bookshelf on the back wall and there was a small work desk next to the bookshelf with a window above it. The window had a beautiful view of the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid's Hut, and the lake. The sun had already set, leaving behind a group of red/orange/pink clouds that were slowly turning into dusk.

She had a four poster bed in one corner with a red comforter and gold sheets. There was a red carpet on the floor and in the opposite corner of the bed was a small table with a mirror so she would be able to do her make up in her room, instead of the bathroom.  
She thought to herself that it wouldn't be so bad, if she could just spend most of her time in her room. Little did she realize, she wouldn't be spending much time in there at all.

Draco entered his room, looking quite pleased. He had a bookshelf as well, but these books were far different from hers. There was a desk of dark green and a window above it with the same view Hermione saw. Although, to him, it wasn't nearly as beautiful. He then walked over to his four poster bed, which had a dark green comforter with silver sheets. Sitting on it, he thought it to be quite comfortable, perhaps even more so than his old one in Slytherin.

Since it was still early, and neither of them was ready to go to bed, they came back out into the common room, neither acknowledging each other's presence. Hermione sat down at the couch and spread her homework out on the coffee table and began to work, while Draco amused himself in a game of chess, the pieces magically set up to play against him. It was a tricky bit of magic that he had taken a long time to learn, but it was worth it. Especially now that he was stuck with Granger for a whole month!

After about an hour and a half, Hermione put away her homework, yawned, and announced that she was going to bed. After a quick, mumbled goodnight, she walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth, and went into her bedroom.

Draco looked at the door she had just entered for a full minute before he realized what he was doing. He quickly snapped out of it and went back to playing his game. After about ten minutes or so, he became bored of that, and with a yawn, he went to bed, as well.

Both slept extremely peacefully, not used to having a room to themselves and with such comfy beds.

The next morning they both awoke around the same time, both grabbed whatever they needed for a shower and both exited their rooms at the same time, meeting in the middle, at the door of the bathroom. There was already going to be problems.

"Sorry, Mudblood, purebloods always go first." Draco said with his usual sneer.

"I thought we agreed not to call each other names. And whatever happened to ladies first?"

"Right. Well, as soon as I see a _worthy_ lady, I will gladly give up my spot. Until then, you'll have to wait your turn." He finished, coldly and walked into the bathroom, locking the door.

"Malfoy! You're a prat!" She yelled into the door, knowing it was useless. She heard the shower go on and she went back into her room, sitting on her bed, thinking.

"There's got to be someway we can work this out." Hermione thought to herself, knowing it was hopeless. Malfoy thought himself to be superior to all, especially 'Mudbloods' like her. "_But…_" She thought slowly. "If we can find a way to maybe not think Mudbloods are so terrible, then it could work out! But how am I supposed to do that?" She sighed and put her head in her hands.

A few minutes later she heard the water turn off. Finally! It was her turn! She got up quickly from her bed and walked towards the bathroom. After a few minutes, he exited out slowly, not even glancing at her.

She went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. When she got in, she was fuming.

He had taken all the hot water.

That bloody little _pureblood_ was going to pay.

When they went down to breakfast some thirty minutes later, they stopped and retrieved their friends from the floor below them. Then, they went their separate ways, Hermione with Harry and Ron, and Draco with Pansy and Blaise, and walked towards the Great Hall.

When they got to the Hall, however, Malfoy had to say goodbye to friends and go sit, alone, at the end of the Gryffindor table. Once again, eating as quickly as he could before exiting towards the library.

When the bell rang, they all quickly made their way towards Transfiguration. Hermione and Draco sat as far apart as possible, in case they were put under another task to complete.

McGonagall looked at them both, a pitied expression on her face, and moved onto teaching the lesson.

When the bell finally rung, she called out, "Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger, I was hoping you two would stay for a moment."

With a sigh, Hermione bid goodbye to her friends, and walked towards the front of the class, Malfoy not far behind her.

"It appears that you two are still not behaving as you should. Roommates should get along and look after each other like family. From what we've heard so far, you both are still fighting constantly and refuse to speak civilized to each other and don't speak at all at meals and in classes. If you two wish to pass this project, you must learn to get along! So, unless you want us to go to drastic measures, then for the rest of the week, I suggest you two try to get along and maybe even work together!"

"Yes ma'am" Hermione said, frowning. She did not like the idea of trying to get along with Draco Malfoy. Putting up with him for a month was one thing; but actually _spending time_ with him. That was just going too far. By the look on Malfoy's face, she could tell he was thinking along the same lines.

"Since you two aren't getting along, Dumbledore thinks it wise for you two to have a job together."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Malfoy protested.

"This, Mr. Malfoy, is exactly why this is going on. Have you even tried to get to know Miss Granger? She's bright, charming, quick, and quite funny." Hermione turned bright red upon hearing this.

"Now, your job will be to work on the Astronomy tower. You will go up there every three nights at eleven o'clock starting tonight and you will be copying down a star chart, filling out where all the constellations are along with their names and background story. Professor Sinistra will be in charge of you, making sure that you show up on time and work and get along, so make sure to check in with her when you arrive. She'll give you whatever supplies you need. You will be paid a galleon a week. Now, you two best be going to your next class. I wouldn't want you to be late."

At ten thirty that night, Hermione and Draco walked out of their separate rooms where they had spent the day, and walked towards the Astronomy Tower, not speaking at all.

When they arrived at the Tower, Professor Sinistra's office, just below the roof which they would be climbing on, they knocked three times.

"Enter" they heard her voice say. They went inside the room, slowly and carefully.

Professor Sinistra was sitting behind her desk, awaiting their arrival.

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger, right on time! Excellent, excellent. Now, I presume Professor McGonagall has already told you what you're going to do?" The both nodded. "Excellent. Well, best get to work, then. Here is your star chart, and here are pieces of parchment to right down the significance of each constellation. Your telescopes are already up there, you will have to set them up, though. Do you have any questions?"

"Erm, how long are we supposed to work for the night?" Hermione asked slowly.

"As long as you feel necessary. 2 hours minimum." She responded, looking cheerful. "Oh, and before I forget, whatever you do, do not close the door all the way, it's designed to not let anyone in from the outside as a precaution against everything that's going on right now, so, don't let the door close or you'll be stuck up there until morning, unless I should happen to check up before that, but it's unlikely."

And with that, she bade them good luck and pointed them to the ladder and door that would take them to the roof.

"Oh, this is just great" Malfoy said out loud as they stepped up to the roof. "It's freezing up here, I'm stuck with a Mudblood and if we let the door close, we'll be stuck up here all night. What could possibly be worse?"

"I'm not happy about this, either, you know." Hermione said, looking cross. "But we may as well get this over with. Common." She pushed him to the other side of the roof where their telescopes were in their boxes, waiting for them. They set up the telescopes, pointed them off into the distance, opposite corners.

After about an hour's of silence, only the sound of their quills hitting the parchment, Hermione broke the silence.

"Look Mal-Draco. McGonagall's right. We need to try to get along if we're ever going to pass the project. Can we just…pretend we're not complete opposites? Just for a month. Please." Her big, brown eyes got big and watery, shimmering in the faint moonlight above. They mesmerized Draco for a long moment before he came to his senses.

He slowly nodded his head. "Alright, Granger. I'll try. We'll get along, but I'm not going to be nice guy like Potter and Weasley. We'll get through the project and after that we'll go back to the way things were."

"That's fine." She said with a smile and reached out her hand, which he took, shaking it slowly.

They went back to looking through their telescopes; although this time they would point things out to each other, trying to make it easier.

"That's Pegasus." Draco said, looking through his telescope and pointing where it was focused. We both haven't gotten that yet." He said removing his eye from the lens and looking at her parchment. She had only gotten three of the constellations. She knew there were about a hundred. This was going to take forever!

Looking through her telescope, she focused it where his was. No, I think that's Leo the lion. I don't see the wings that Pegasus would have."

"Oh." He said slowly, looking through his telescope once again. "You're right. Hmm." He looked down at his star chart and scribbled around it, making it Leo instead of Pegasus.

At that moment, a large gust of wind picked up, sending chills down their spine and their paper flying. They went to chase after it when the wind kicked up harder, making the door slam close.

They both stopped suddenly and looked up at each other. The color completely gone from their face.

The began banging on the door, shouting for help. No one came. After about five minutes of straight yelling, their voices became hoarse and they knew it was no use. They would be stuck up there for the night.

They grabbed their parchment which was now on the other side of the roof, stuck against the two-foot-high wall. Putting it carefully in their bags, they began to pack up, feeling it was useless to carry on. They were too upset. They put away their telescopes and left them where they had found them and began pacing around the roof, trying to find someway they could get down.

After twenty minutes of straight, dead-silent pacing, they both gave up.

They were freezing, had nothing but the clothes they were in (which were their school uniforms and a cloak tied around their neck), and they were tired.

Very tired.

Hermione had the idea of creating a small, contained fire with her wand, but it didn't give off much heat. She had to stand very close to it in order to stay warm. Draco tried the same thing, his fire giving off even less heat than hers.

"Come over here, Draco. If we put our wands together, it will probably give off more heat." He obeyed, too tired and cold to make any rude remark about not wanting to be near a Mudblood.

They huddled close together in the corner, the wands giving off more heat together than they ever could alone. After about thirty minutes, they started to warm up and drift off to sleep. Hermione fell asleep first, her wand, still with Draco's falling out of her hand. Draco set down his wand next to it, so it would continue to warm him, and he lay down on the other side of the wand, about five feet from Hermione.

Try as he could, he simply could not fall asleep. Hermione, after being asleep for fifteen minutes or so, was shivering very badly. He was scared, he was never sure why, though, that she would get sick. So, he took off his cloak and wrapped it around her gently. Her shivering subsided quickly and he went back to sitting where he had been. Rubbing his hands together to try to stay warm, he moved the wand tips slightly more towards him. At that point, she started shivering again. He knew there was no way to keep them both warm if they stayed like that. He moved the wands carefully towards her, right near her body and got up and walked behind her.

Lifting his cloak off her, he lay down beside her so that her back was touching his side and he put the cloak back over both of them. Rolling to his side, he got as close to her as he could so that he could try to soak up some of her warmth.

He fell asleep soon after

The next morning, Hermione awoke early, the sun having risen and glaring in her face. Moaning, Hermione covered her face with her hand and she looked at her watch.

6:45 AM. She did not want to be up this early having only received a few hours of sleep. She looked around her, wondering where the light was coming from when she realized that she was not in her bed. The stone below her was hard and cold and she shuddered.

Finally remembering what had happened, she lifted her head slightly looking for Draco. Hearing him snort behind her, she quickly rolled around to find their noses nearly touching. She realized that he had put the fire close to her and even put his cloak over both of them. Smiling, she nudged him awake.

"Morning, Draco." She said, smiling slightly.

"What the bloody hell are you doing in my room, Granger?" He said, also, apparently, not realizing where he was.

"We're not in your room, Draco. We got stuck on the Astronomy Tower last night, remember?"

Slowly, he remembered and groaned, having slept very uncomfortably last night.

He got up carefully and looked around. "Sinistra said that she would be in here in the morning. What time do you reckon she meant? What time is it now, anyways?"

"I'm not sure. Probably before breakfast…I hope. And it's 6:50 right now." She sat up slowly.

"Bloody hell. I'm going back to sleep." He said, falling back down. "Ow. Bloody stone floor! Ugh, I give up." He sat back up and leaned against the wall next to him. Hermione did the same.

Looking over at him and smiling again, Hermione handed Draco his wand back.

"I wanted to thank you for giving me your cloak last night. It really helped. You must've been freezing."

He tilted his head to one side, his Malfoy charm coming into play. "Nah, it wasn't so bad. Malfoy's never get cold. Besides, there was a lady in distress. And maybe we can use it to make McGonagall and Dumbledore lay off us for a bit, eh?"

Laughing, she hit his shoulder playfully. "That's all you care about, isn't it? Playing the cards to get you on everyone's good side. Well, everyone's good side worth getting on, right?"

"That's pretty much it." He responded with a smile on his face.

They sat in silence for another half an hour, occasionally checking the time and looking up at the sky. At seven thirty, Professor Sinistra came up to the roof looking shocked.

"What happened!" She asked. "I told you not to close the door!"

Malfoy, becoming angry, responded sharply, "The bloody wind slammed the door closed and if you had been in your office, you would have heard us shouting! Why the bloody hell do you even have those charms on their anyways? People have to use the tower all the time. How often do they get stuck up here?"

"Actually, you two are the first ones. Usually I'm up here as well and I know a complicated spell that only I and Professor Dumbledore can do that opens the door. Well, come along, you both must be freezing. Go get changed and go down for breakfast. Class starts in an hour."

And with that, she turned around, grabbing her telescopes, and left.

Malfoy nodded his head towards the door, and grabbing their bags, they walked back to their room.

He let her use the shower first today.

_This,_ Hermione thought,_ might not be so bad after all._

**Author's Notes:**

Alright, so what do you think? Malfoy being too nice too soon? It's not too late to make him evil again…

Reviews are appreciated!


	4. Fred, George, and MoodHair?

**Disclaimer:** You know the drill. I own nothing about Harry Potter. Well, I do, but that's only in my dreams, so it doesn't really count, does it?

I would love for you all to read my new story **Starting Over**. It's a story about Ginny. And of course, romance. Please read it and tell me what you think!

**This is my shout out to my lovely Molly who inspires me to write. I love you Molly.**

I'm in Gryffindor!

Fred, George, and Mood…Hair?

Over the next week, things didn't change too much with Draco and Hermione. They still rarely spoke, and he was still acting like his Slytherin, bossy self. She became more and more aggravated, thinking that Malfoy would have changed after their night on the Astronomy Tower. But, he didn't.

Every three nights, as instructed by Professors McGonagall and Sinistra, Draco and Hermione would go up to the Astronomy Tower and work on their star chart. They would bring something to put in front of the door to prevent it from closing again.

Malfoy would still sit at the end of the Gryffindor table, not talking to anyone, and sulking. He would often walk to classes by himself, shooting dark looks at anyone who looked at him.

Hermione tried desperately to get him to cheer up. She offered to have him sit with them at meals or in class. Each time, he simply refused. He wasn't mean about it, but he just didn't want to. Quidditch tryouts (having been postponed for the start of the new projects) were to be the following Friday. Part of Malfoy wanted to try out because he knew that that was where he belonged, but the other part of him reminded him that he was now in Gryffindor where he was hated by all, especially Harry, who had been made captain. Hermione noticed this internal struggle going on in her roommate and she tried to help.

"I think you should try out for the team." Hermione said flatly one day while he was sitting on the couch, she was at the table doing some homework.

He turned around, looking at her. They had barely spoken since the project had started and it was never a real conversation. He raised his eyebrow, wondering how she knew that he wanted to try out, when she answered his next unasked question.

"I saw the way you looked when you saw that tryout dates were posted on the bulletin board in the Gryffindor common room yesterday. You want to try out. I think you'd make a great chaser."

Him? A chaser? It just didn't seem to fit. But, it was either a chaser or a beater. Beaters were boring jobs which didn't get any points for the team. A chaser was the only option left.

"Your little boyfriends wouldn't like me on the team." He responded shortly.

"Harry and Ron don't like a lot of things. But Harry is fair, and if you try out, I know he'll give you a fair chance, even if he doesn't like it."

"We'll see." He said before going back to staring absentmindedly at the wall in front of him.

Friday afternoon came around and students could not be happier. It was finally weekend. Hermione decided to spend the weekend in the Gryffindor Tower, catching up with Ginny.

When she arrived, however, Ginny was not in the common room. Hermione shrugged and went to the fifth years' dorm, where she found Ginny sitting underneath her blanket, shaking.

Approaching her slowly, Hermione pulled of the blanket and Ginny looked around wildly.

"Are they here?"

"What? Who?"

"Fred and George. They're coming this weekend! Remember?" Ginny said, looking over Hermione's shoulder as if to see them standing in the doorway, waving at her, twin grins pasted on their face.

"Oh, I forgot about that. No, they're not here yet. Well, I guess it's a good thing I decided to spend the weekend in the Tower, then, huh?" Hermione said, laughing at her friend.

"Oh good. You're staying!" Ginny got out of bed slowly and walked towards the door. Hermione followed closely behind her.

When they reached the common room, they found Harry and Ron sitting in their favorite arm chairs. They, too, had decided to stay here for the weekend.

"What's wrong, Gin?" Harry asked, looking at Ginny still nervous face. "Oh…" He said, remembering Fred and George. "They're not here yet, are they?"

"Not yet." Ginny said, sitting down next to him.

"Don't worry. You're their favorite? They won't do anything to you."

"Ha. Yes, I'm their favorite. Their favorite Guinea Pig. They always test their products on me." She sighed. "Oh well. May as well face the music. Let's get this little Weasley reunion over with.

As if on cue, Fred and George popped through the fireplace, landing on the heath rug beneath them.

They stood up, dusted themselves off and looked down at the four teenagers sitting around the fire.

"Ginny!" Said Fred

"Harry!" Added George

"Hermione"

"Ron!"

"Lovely to be back here, isn't it Fred?" George said, nudging his brother.

"Ah yes, all the lovely memories." Fred answered, a grin popping up on each of their faces.

They sat on either arm of Ginny's chair and pulled her into a tight embrace. "We've missed you little sis!" George said, ruffling her hair.

"I've missed you both, too." Ginny said, a convincing smile spreading over her face.

"Harry! Just the man we wanted to see!" Fred said, going to the next armchair, looking at Harry. "We owe you mate. Wouldn't have the store without you." He added in an undertone.

"We thought we'd give you unlimited access to all our products. Seeing as how you won't get the chance to go there until Christmas break, though, we decided to bring our products to you!"

They each pulled large bags out of their pockets and emptied the contents on Harry's lap. There were loads of pranks, anywhere from Ton-tongue toffee to a potion that was supposed to give someone two left feet. _'Give your mate two left feet for real and watch him try to get around!'_

Harry laughed and thanked the boys for the gifts, making a mental note to test something out on Ron later.

Moving along to Hermione and Ron, they stopped between them, looking at them curiously.

"So, what's the deal? Are you two together yet?"

Hermione blushed and Ron's ears went pink.

"For the last time, boys, Hermione and I are just friends. Besides, she's living with Malfoy now." He added with a snicker.

"You're _what?_" They both said in unison.

"It's just a project. All the sixth years have to live with someone for a month and have a job and everything so that we can learn was life will be like after Hogwarts. Harry and Ron are partners."

"Awww, we always knew you two would end up together." Fred said, wrapping an arm around Ron and Harry. "The inseparable two." He smirked and stood next to his brother, Ron's ears turned deeper red.

"Well," George said, clapping his hands together, "shall we go out to the grounds? It's a glorious day and you look like you could all use some fresh air."

"I suppose," Ginny sighed as she stood up, Harry, Ron and Hermione following her suit.

"Excellent."

The six of them walked out of the portrait and to the front doors, opening them up to reveal bright sunny day. "Ah, this is much better than that stiff Common Room." George noted.

Fred and George began to quicken their pace as they spotted Neville Longbottom talking to Luna Lovegood. Both would be excellent targets.

Arriving at the tree under which the two innocent students were standing, Fred and George plastered large grins on their faces.

"Fred…George…" Neville stammered, looking at them nervously, not forgetting the time he was turned into a canary. "What're you two doing here?"

"Oh, we just thought we'd get away for a little while. Come back to Hogwarts. We've missed it so much." Fred answered joyously.

"Especially the students!" George continued, patting the nervous Neville and the confused Luna on the back. "Tell me, how have you been?"

"We've been fine, thank you." Luna said, smiling at the twins. She knew them in her fourth year during Dumbledore's Army, but she didn't know how big of pranksters they were.

"Well, we must be going. It was great to see you both again." Fred said, winking at Neville.

As they walked back towards Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, Neville watched them cautiously.

"They didn't do anything to us…YES! Finally! I had a conversation with Fred and George without being turned into somet_hing_…_yikes!"_

Before he could finish his sentence, wings had sprouted from both his and Luna's back, flying them high into the tree before disappearing again.

Neville realized when George patted them on the back; he must have had something in his hands which he put on them causing them to sprout wings momentarily.

A crowd began to form around tree as the six kids ran towards it, Fred and George laughing hysterically.

"Rocket Wings!" Fred announced proudly. "A quick blast to get you away from a sticky situation. Seven sickles! A bargain!"

Ginny and Hermione quickly pulled out their wands and levitated Luna and Neville down. They were trying hard not to laugh at the look of Neville's face. He was obviously afraid of heights.

Luna laughed along with the rest of the crowd and after realizing he was now safe from harms' way, Neville joined in.

Ten minutes later, Hermione and Ginny were chatting merrily under the shade of a beach tree, while Fred, George, Ron, and Harry all looked at them anxiously. Fred and George had set a trap just below their feet.

"Oi! Gin! Come over here for a minute." Fred called, looking at her sister. "We've got something to show you."

As Ginny and Hermione stood up and began walking towards the four boys sitting their innocently, the grass around them disappeared and turned into mud. They both slipped and fell face down in the mud around them. The boys instantly started laughing harder than they thought possible. Soon they were rolling on the ground with laughter as the girls stood up, spitting mud out of the mouth and shaking with the attempt to get the mud off.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Ginny yelled, leaping for the closest boy, Harry.

"She tackled him to the ground covered him with mud. Hermione followed her suit, leaping on Ron, large amounts of mud in either fist and she wiped it on his face. Fred and George quietly snuck into the castle.

After twenty minutes or so of their mud war, they all got up slowly, mud covering every inch of them. They needed a shower…badly.

They walked back up the castle slowly, completely forgetting about Fred and George. Ginny and Harry both went to the Gryffindor tower to shower, Ron having called dibs on their room, and Hermione began to make her way back to room.

When she entered, Draco looked up at her with questioning eyes.

"I don't want to talk about it." She said shortly, but gave him a small smile.

She turned on the shower, undressed and stepped in. The floor became muddy quite quickly as all the mud slid off her body. She stayed in that position for a few minutes, letting all the mud fall of her, before reaching for the shampoo.

When she had finished with her shower, she reached for her towel, wrapped it around herself and walked out of the shower. The mirror had gotten foggy from all the steam and when she reached her hand up to wipe away the fog, she let out an ear splitting scream at her reflection.

Draco, upon hearing the scream, jumped up from the couch, used _Alohomora_ to open to the door and sprinted in. She stopped suddenly when he saw Hermione in nothing but a towel and then dropped his jaw when he saw the reason she screamed.

Her hair, while usually like brown, had turned…_green._ **(A/N: I was going to leave it here, but I thought I'd add a bit more, just because I'm nice like that)**

She clutched her hair in both her fists and turned to look at Draco standing in the doorway, mouth hanging open.

"My hair!" She screamed. "What happened? This is horrible! What am I going to do!"

"Calm down, Granger, calm down." Draco said, grabbing her by the shoulders. "I'm sure there's some explanation for this."

"_Fred and George!"_ Hermione muttered under her breath. "They did this! Draco, has anyone been in this room recently?"

"Well, the door opened about ten minutes before you came in here, but no one was there. I just figured something malfunctioned."

Hermione took a few deep breaths, struggling to find some explanation for this, she began to relax and her hair began to turn blue. Draco became more wide-eyed, seeing the color change before his eyes.

Noticing his eyes grow large, she looked back in the mirror and saw that her hair was now blue. She groaned and tugged harder on her now blue hair.

Realizing that she was still in a towel, she gave a yelp and shoved Draco out of the way, running into her room.

She came out a few minutes later, her hair still blue, fully dressed.

"I'm going to the Gryffindor common room to talk to Fred and George." She said, walking towards the door.

"Wait, wait. I'm coming with you." Draco said, jumping up. "I could use a good laugh."

Rolling her eyes, the walked out the door, Draco following close behind her, and walked to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

Little did she know, the exact same thing had taken place at the same time except Ginny Weasley was the victim and Harry Potter came rushing to her screams.

Harry had just finished taking his shower and getting dressed. He was shaking the towel through his hair when he heard it.

_Scream_

Harry grabbed his wand from the counter, ran out of the bathroom and used _Alohomora_ to enter into the girl's bathroom next door. His jaw dropped when he saw Ginny standing there in a towel and her hair…_brown._

Ginny screamed again, shouting something about her hair, killing her brothers, and never being able to go out in public again, before realizing Harry was standing there. She blushed, and mumbled a quick apology before shoving him out the door and shutting the door with a slam.

That's when Hermione and Draco arrived.

Harry was sitting on the couch, looking dazed. He was the only one in the common room; everyone else was enjoying their last bit of sunshine. He looked up at Hermione and Draco and his face became stiff upon seeing her hair.

"You too, then, eh?" Harry said, inspecting her hair up close when she sat down next to him.

"What do you mean? Did this happen to someone else?"

At that moment, Ginny walked out of the bathroom, her hair now blue, matching Hermione's.

They both looked at each other for a moment, wide-eyed, before saying at the same time through gritted teeth,

"_Where are those boys!"_

Moments later, Ron walked through the portrait hole, looking refreshed, with Fred and George following closely behind him. All three stopped dead in their tracks looking at the blue-haired girls.

Their hair suddenly became black when they saw Fred and George standing there.

"Whoa! How did that happen?" Asked Fred, seeing their hair change color before their eyes.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing! What did you do to us!"

"It was just a simple hair-dying potion we've been working on." Said George, grinning and inspecting Ginny's hair. "Didn't realize it would change colors, though."

"What do you mean!"

"Well, it was supposed to turn Hermione's hair green and Ginny's brown. That was it."

"Well that obviously didn't work!" Said Hermione, positively fuming.

"Just calm down, would you? We'll figure this out." Fred said, sitting down opposite of them.

Both girls took deep breaths, relaxing. When they were finally relaxed, their hair turned blue again.

"Are you two relaxed?" Fred said, looking at them suspiciously.

"If you could call it that." Hermione shot back, black highlights appearing in her hair.

"I think I know what's happening. Your hair matches your mood!" Fred exclaimed.

"Whoa, whoa. Are you saying that their hair has turned into some sort of mood ring?" Harry asked, surprised.

Upon seeing the Weasley's confused faces, he realized they didn't know what he was talking about.

"A mood ring is a sort of muggle ring that some girls wear and it's supposed to change colors depending on their mood. Although, it's more just their body temperature that causes it to change, not their actual mood."

"Well, looks like that's what happened, then!" George said, standing up. "We should probably investigate this further; don't you think brother-of-mine?"

"Right you are! Besides, we really should be going…we'll come back soon!" Fred answered, standing up next to his brother and walking towards the fire place.

"Oh no you don't!" Shouted Ginny, standing up and making her way towards the fire place. "We need answers. Now! We can't just stay like this!" Her hair became brown as she spoke.

"Sorry ladies, we don't have any for you right now. We'll start looking though."

With a quick smile and wave, they threw floo powder into the fire place, stepped in, and shouted "Weasley Wizard Wheezes", and vanished just moments before Ginny could grab the hem of their robe. Instead, she got her hand caught in the fire and pulled it back quickly with a yelp.

Draco and Ron laughed, while Hermione and Harry got up to look at her now very red hand.

"Oh this is going to be a nightmare!" Ginny groaned, her eyes beginning to water with the pain.

Harry conjured a bag of ice which she stuck on her hand and the three sat back down.

"This is going to be _funny_." Ron stated before getting hit in the face by a black-haired Hermione.

**Author's Notes:**

Okay. I know that chapter had no romance in it whatsoever, but I liked it.

Tell me what you think, I'm anxious to hear.

**_Review, Review, Review_**

I want at least 45 reviews by the time I publish the next chapter.

And please, read **Starting Over** and tell me what you think!


	5. What's wrong with Hermione?

**Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don't own Harry Potter**

**Author's Notes: **

**Okay, well, first off, sorry for the late update! I've been pretty busy lately doing this and that, and hopefully I'll be able to start posting at least two a week from now on! Another problem is that I have no clue what I want to do anymore! I have a beginning and end planned out, but I have no idea how to get from A to B. So, if you have any suggestions as to how to make my story more interesting, I would love to hear it!**

**I would like to thank you all for your awesome reviews! I'm glad you're liking the story!**

**For those of you who commented about forgetting Neville in the room. Sorry, that was a brain fart on my part. Yes, he's still there. I was looking up in the book how to spell Finnigan to make sure I had it right and I forgot to throw Mr. Longbottom in there!**

**Kate, I hope your mum lets you dye your hair blue sometime. That would be quite entertaining. Although, while it might be fun at first, I can't imagine people being able to tell how your feeling all the time would be fun, but who knows….**

**And now, onto the story!**

When Hermione arrived back in the common room a few hours later with Draco, she immediately went into her room to search her trunk. Draco sat on the couch, a stunned look on his face as he'd see random articles of clothing being thrown from the room and Hermione groaning that she couldn't find it. What _it_ was, however, Draco hadn't a clue.

Finally, after fifteen minutes of frantic searching, Draco heard a sudden scream of glee. "Yes! I found it, I found it!" He heard Hermione yelling.

"Found what?" Draco asked calmly, looking towards her room from his position on the couch.

"My muggle friend, Sarah, got me this as a joke for my birthday next week, but since I left for school she gave it to me early. Anyways, it's a _mood ring!_"

"So? I thought you were mad about that whole thing? What's having a mood ring going to do to change that?"

"_Well…_it comes with a list of the different colors and meanings, so now, even though I don't always realize my mood is changing, someone can look at my hair and tell what kind of mood I'm in. I suppose that would come in handy. People know when to back away…" She said, a wry grin plastered on her face.

"Well, what's it say, then?"

"Let's see…" She grabbed the paper folded nicely with the ring, unfolded it, and quickly read aloud, "black means stress; no surprise there, orange is upset, brown is fear, yellow is nervous, green is mixed emotions, blue is normal, bright blue is relaxed, dark blue is calm, purple is cool, red is love; again, no surprise, bright green is romance, navy blue is passion, and gold is very happy!" Her hair turned gold when she was finished.

"You look happy." Draco commented, smirking. She threw a pillow at him which he easily caught. She laughed and settled herself down on the couch next to him.

"You know, this won't be so bad. I guess I was just a little freaked out when I first saw it. But now that I think about it, it'll be kind of cool. Now when I snap at people for annoying me, I can tell them that they had their warning and should have noted the hair before talking to me."

"Nice, Granger, real nice. Well, enjoy your hair while it lasts, I suppose. You going to want it fixed when the Weasley dolts find a cure?"

"Of course! But until then, I may as well enjoy it." She said, happily smiling.

"Speaking of enjoying things…I must say, even for a Mudblood, you did look pretty hot in that towel today." Draco sneered, his eyebrows raised.

Hermione gasped. "Uh! You should not have come in! That was so embarrassing!" She grabbed the pillow from next to her and hit him with it.

"Fine, then. Next time I hear you scream in the bathroom, even if someone's attacking you and you're dying, I'll make sure to stay out. And if your friends try to attack me for letting you die, I'll just tell them you told me not to disturb Princess Granger." He retorted, his eyes laughing.

"You're a little ferret, you know that, right?" She said laughing. "Fine. If I ever scream bloody murder, I give you permission to come and save me."

"Deal." Draco laughed as well. It was the first time he had really laughed in a long time. _It felt good_. He thought to himself, looking at the gold-haired person sitting next to him. He quickly shuddered and looked back at Hermione with a look of disgust. _Ah, there's the real me._

_**Or is it? Who is the real you anymore? You're not a Slytherin.**_

_I'm still a Slytherin. Just because I'm not in that house anymore, doesn't mean I don't belong there._

_**But you care for people now. Remember that night on the tower? You could have let Hermione freeze, but instead you gave up some of your warmth to keep another warm. That's not very Slytherin like.**_

_Oh what the bloody hell do you know?_

Hermione watched Draco in confusion as he fought inwardly with himself. His face sneered, then went calm, then sneered again. She laughed at the look at his face and he looked at her, looking for an explanation for her random outburst. "Your face just looked so funny. Arguing with yourself, now?"

"What are you talking about Granger?" Draco sneered, not looking at her. "I was just twitching from being in a room with a Mudblood for so long. It's not healthy for us _purebloods_." And with that, he stood up and went to his bedroom.

Hermione looked hurt. They were almost starting to get along! What happened? Did she say something wrong?

Draco slammed the door and immediately went over to his bed where he collapsed. Why did he always have to mess everything up? Could he ever do anything right? She sighed and stood up again, walking over to his desk. He kicked it. Hard. A little harder than he meant to and his foot immediately throbbed. _I probably deserve that, _he thought inwardly.

"Why do I always have to mess up anything good that happens to me?" Draco said aloud, furiously. "I can never do anything right! Why does Granger make me feel angry, wanted, liked, and annoyed all at the same time? No other girl has…"

Hermione was sitting on her bed, tears beginning to come up, but she wouldn't let them escape. What she needed were her friends. Ron and Harry are the floor below. _Directly below_ she thought. "Hmm, I wonder…" She grabbed her wand and opened her window, sticking her head out. She muttered a spell and a rock came shooting out of her wand and hit the window below. _Nothing._ She tried again. _Still nothing._ Finally, after a third attempt, she saw red-hair coming out through the window.

"Oy! If one more rocks fly's at my window, I swear I'll –" Ron began yelling, obviously thinking someone from the ground was throwing rocks at the wall for fun.

"Ron! It's me!" Ron rolled his head towards the voice. It couldn't be a comfortable position.

"What is it, Mione?"

"I'm just having a bad night. You guys wanna come over?"

"Harry's not here. He stayed in the Gryffindor Common Room tonight. But I'll come over if you want."

"Thanks, Ron. You're the best."

A few minutes later, Ron was standing in the common room (he had gotten the password from Hermione earlier), waiting for Hermione to re-enter. When she didn't after two minutes, he slowly approached the first door and knocked.

"What are you doing here, Weasley?" Said a narrow-eyed Draco. Ron had obviously gone to the wrong room.

"Oh, sorry. I was looking for Hermione."

Draco's face softened momentarily, but he quickly regained his sneer and said, "I wouldn't know where your little girlfriend is. Hopefully went back to her Gryffindor room. But I won't get my hopes up."

Ron scowled at Malfoy, wanting to hit him. But Draco slammed the door before he could do anything. At that moment, Hermione walked out of the bathroom, her hair orange and her eyes red and puffy. Ron still had no idea what the different mood-colors were. Upon seeing Ron, Hermione quickly wiped her eyes and gave him a smile. "Hey Ron. How are you?"

"What happened, Mione?" Ron asked, concern etched in his face.

"Nothing…I just didn't feel like being up here alone right now, that's all."

"But Malfoy's up here…"

"I know, I just meant that I missed seeing you and Harry all the time and I want us to be together more." Hermione quickly said.

Ron smiled, obviously clueless as to what was really going on. He sat down on the couch and patted the seat next to him, motioning for Hermione to do the same. She slowly made her way over next to him and smiled. "So, what do you want to do?"

"Want to play a game of chess?"

"No…I'm not really the chess person, you know that." She saw a new book sitting on the coffee table in front of them. She quickly bent down to grab it. "Ohh! I have to tell you about this new book I started-"

"Hermione…nothing about books. Please."

Her head dropped slightly, but she still smiled, covering it up. "Okay, then, umm…" _sigh_ "I've got nothing."

"Hermione, what's really bugging you. I know you didn't ask me up here just because you missed me. While that is a good reason," he smirked, "I know there's more to it than that."

"It's nothing, really. I just don't understand something. I've been trying _so hard_ to be nice to Draco and make him feel welcome in Gryffindor, but he just keeps blowing up at me. He'll act friendly one minute, and the next he's calling me a Mudblood and storming into his room."

"Draco's a git, Mione. We all know that." When Hermione didn't look any happier upon hearing this, Ron sighed. "Look, Hermione, I know that you're tried really hard to make him feel _welcome_ into Gryffindor, but there are some things you've just got face. Draco thinks he's better than us, he always has. So even if you tried for a hundred years to make him comfortable with us, the fact is, he's a Slytherin. He always has been and in his eyes, he always will be." Hermione looked defeated and sighed again. She still wasn't any happier. "What else is bothering you, Mione? You haven't looked well for days."

Ron listening silently, nodding his head when appropriate, and gave his shoulder as her personal handkerchief, as she told him everything that had been going through her mind over the past few months. Apparently Sirius' death had really shaken her and gave her a whole new perspective on things. Hermione was very appreciative of his company and she knew she could tell him anything without worrying about it getting spread around.

There was so much about her that even Ron, as her best friend, didn't know. She explained that she had written Viktor a lot over the past year and he was the one that she used to confide everything in, but Quidditch was getting more intense and there was a new girl Viktor was interesting in (which stung Hermione badly), and his letters got fewer and fewer and shorter and shorter. Soon, she had no one to talk to besides Ginny, but even that was hard with the new projects going on because the only times they really saw each other were at meals. After fifteen minutes of Hermione talking (taking the occasional break to sob into Ron's shoulder), she was all talked and cried out. Ron took the opportunity to put his arm around her and she buried her head into his shoulder, breathing heavily. Her bushy hair, now green with mixed emotions, pressing against his mouth, some getting in, but he didn't take notice. They both just sat there silently, Ron rubbing her back slowly up and down and Hermione snuggled into his shoulder. Neither noticed Draco's slightly opened door shut silently, nor did they notice him listening intently to the whole conversation. Well, more of Hermione's long monologue.

After about half an hour of silence, Ron noticed Hermione go more limp and relaxed. She had fallen asleep. Ron smiled to himself and carefully scooped her up into his arms and carried her to her bedroom. He set her in her bed gently and removed her shoes, and pulled the covers up to her chin. He then leaned down carefully and kissed her temple. "Sweet Dreams, Mione, you could really use some." A vacant smile spread across her face as Ron left.

The next morning Hermione awoke, the smile still plastered on her lips. She rolled over and her hand hit something soft and silky. A beautiful golden rose was lying there with a small note on it. _I hope your hair can match this rose today._ Hermione smiled. _Ron was so thoughtful, _she thought.

As she got dressed and entered the Common Room, she noticed she was alone. _Draco must have already left._ She thought bitterly. _ Too much over-exposure with a Mudblood._

Going down to the Great Hall for breakfast, she saw Draco wasn't there either. She worried for a moment, but all thoughts of Draco soon left her mind as she saw Ron walk into the Great Hall. They both sat down opposite of Harry and Ginny who were acting quite…strangely. They would both take glances at each other when they thought the other wasn't looking, and when they got caught, they would turn and blush madly. _What's going on with them? _ Hermione wondered.

Ron was also shooting Hermione quick glances, although they were very obvious. Hermione blushed and couldn't bring herself to look at him. After ten minutes of awkward silence, Hermione finally said, "So, Harry, how was staying in Gryffindor last night? It's so weird not being there anymore…much more peaceful, though." She added as an afterthought.

"It was fine." Harry managed between mouthfuls of porridge. "Weird being the only one in my dorm, though!"

After that, it went back to the awkward silence, filled with Ginny and Harry giving each other glances, and Ron giving Hermione glances and they all ate slowly. Finally, Hermione couldn't take it anymore and she stood up. "Erm, I think I'm going to go take a walk around the lake for a bit, okay?"

Ron stood up quickly as well. "Do you want some company?"

"Uh, sure, Ron. Thanks."

Ginny shot Hermione a knowing look and mouthed _we'll talk later._ Hermione gave her a confused look back and Ginny shot her eyes from her to Ron. Hermione pretended not to notice and walked out of the Great Hall, Ron not far behind.

The two walked silently for a while, walking a few feet apart, then Ron walked a bit slower, looking at her carefully, as if to decide what to say. He went with, "So, you feeling a bit better?"

"Yeah. I'm really sorry about last night. I don't know what came over me! I guess I've just held so much stuff bottled in for so long! And then it just burst out of me and I couldn't stop it."

"Don't be sorry. I'm your best friend, Mione; I'm always here for you." He thought for a moment and then reached out and took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. She was taken aback for a moment and then smiled. _Ron's just doing this a friendly gesture. He doesn't like me as anything more than a friend. He never has and never will._ She told herself over and over as she shot a quick glance at a smiling and blushing Ron. _**But how do you feel about him?** Me? He's just my friend. Always has been. I've never thought of him as anything more. **Liar.** Okay, that was a long time ago! And it was obvious he wasn't interested in me so I moved on! **It was last month! You've liked him since your first year and you know it!** Not true! He was just my best friend!** You didn't look at Harry the same way you looked at him. **Shut up! Not listening to you anymore!** Only because you know I'm right.** Are not! **Are so. **Are not! **We could keep doing this, but in the end, you know I'm right.** Shut up. I hate you.** Oh, that's real bright. Hate yourself.**_

"Mione, you alright?" Ron asked, looking at her suspiciously.

Hermione realized it must have been very odd to look at her when she was having the inward argument with herself. "Oh, I'm just fine. It's just a little cold out here." She recovered quickly.

"Here, take my cloak." He said, taking off his cloak and wrapping it around her shoulders.

"Oh, thank you." She said, blushing. _He's just a friend, he's just a friend, he's just a friend.** Then why'd he give you that rose?** I thought I said I wasn't talking to you anymore!_

"You sure you're alright? You're face is a little red."

"No, no. I'm just fine. I actually wanted to thank you for that rose you left me this morning. It was really thoughtful of you and it's really beautiful! And it worked!" She finished, her eyes looking up at her golden hair and giving his hand a quick squeeze.

"What are you talking about Mione? What rose? What worked?"

"…You mean you didn't leave it?"

"Leave what?"

"The rose."

"No."

"Oh. Well then who did?"

"I dunno…. Listen, the next Hogsmeade visit is next weekend and, erm, do you think we could hang out…you know…alone…just the two of us?"

Hermione's thoughts were still on who would had given her the rose so she barely heard what Ron said. "Oh, yeah, sure." She answered, not realizing what she was agreeing to.

Ron beamed. "Great! I can't wait. So, we could start off the day with Harry and Ginny will probably tag along, too, and then we can break off from them and go get a bite or something."

"What?" Hermione asked, snapping back into reality?

"On Saturday…Hogsmeade…you and me…going together…"

"Oh, right." Hermione managed, kicking herself mentally for not having listened. She was planning on trying to get Draco to go with them. Maybe then he wouldn't feel like such an outsider. _Draco…_

"Draco!" Hermione said audibly.

"Huh? What about him? You want him to come with us to Hogsmeade? I doubt he'd want to do that, Hermione. He's got his own friends."

"Right. I know. Umm, listen, I just remembered that I have a huge potions assignment due tomorrow and I really need to do it. So, I guess I'll just see you later?"

"Snape didn't give us any potions homework." Ron said slowly.

"Right then, bye!" Hermione ran off back towards the castle. Ron just stood there, dumbfounded. _Hermione was acting so odd lately… Oh well. I have a date with her next Saturday! I, Ron Weasley, have a date with Hermione Granger. Wow…I never thought I would hear myself say those words._

Hermione ran back towards her room, stopping quickly to give the password and bolting inside. She found Draco sitting on the couch. He looked at her questioningly and then slowly went to stand up to go back into his room. He still felt bad about the way he treated her yesterday.

"No. Don't leave, please. I wanted to ask you something."

Draco sat back down slowly, eyeing her suspiciously. "Okay, what?"

She quickly ran into her room and grabbed the rose, which was obviously an enchanted one that didn't need water to survive because it looked even more beautiful even after being on her bed all morning. She brought it back in, sitting down next to him, and put the rose under his nose. "You gave this to me, didn't you?"

"Oh, well, you looked like you could use it after your water works last night…"

"You heard that?" Hermione's face dropped.

"Er, yeah. Sorry. I couldn't help over hearing it."

"Oh. Well, thank you for the rose. It's really beautiful. Where'd you get it?"

"I conjured it. I learned the spell when I was little. I would watch my mum use it to make her garden better than anyone else's."

"So, then, why'd you give it to me?"

"I dunno…I guess I just felt bad for calling you a Mudblood last night. I know living with me and away from your golden boys is hard and I don't really make it much easier."

"Well it was really thoughtful of you. Thank you." She patted him on the arm and smiled weakly. Surprisingly, he returned the smile. "So we're good, then?"

"Yeah, we're good." Draco answered, his signature smirk coming back.

"Good."


	6. The Start of Something New

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

**Author's Notes:**

**So…. It's been 5 years since I posted last. Wow. Didn't realize it had been that long…. Since then, the last book has come out, the last movie is coming out in two months, and I've gotten five years older and realized that apparently when I was 16 I couldn't spell quiet and there. Sorry about that…. Anyway, now that I am my 21 year-old self, I have made it my mission to complete this story. I have 80 reviews and quite a few of you who have added this to your favorite story list. I will do my best not to let you down again…. **

**If you don't want to go back and read the whole thing (which actually only took me about half an hour or so) I will recap with you what's happened: Draco set fire to the Gryffindor table and got sent to live in Gryffindor for the year. All the 6****th**** years were required to do a project where they were forced to live with the person that they sat next to in class for at least a month to prepare for the real world. Hermione and Draco were partnered up. Their job is to create a star chart with the characters backgrounds. Fred and George visited and tricked Ginny and Hermione into a shampoo that they were testing that turned their hair into "mood hair" where it would change based on their mood. See chapter 5 for details as to what each color represents. **

**Without further ado, chapter 6.**

**I'm In Gryffindor?**

**The Start of Something New**

The rest of the weekend passed without much excitement. Draco and Hermione, while still not close, no longer avoided each other at all times and would occasionally share small talk. On Sunday evening after a long day in the library researching how to magically un-dye her hair, Hermione walked back into her dorm utterly defeated. Draco was sitting on the couch, flipping through a book on potions (however, Hermione noted, it was no potions book that they had ever used in class and it looked rather dark) and he casually glanced up as she walked through the door.

"Granger…. You look… tired? Defeated? Not entirely sure what look you're trying to go for here. But the hair is black so I'm going to go with stressed." He added, a small smirk appearing on his face. Unlike the old Draco, and by old, she meant the one from three days ago, Hermione noticed that his smirk wasn't as cruel as it used to be. Maybe it was just that she was getting used to it, or perhaps Draco was actually changing.

Hermione granted him a small smile as she fell into the armchair beside the coffee table and sighed. "Library. All day. No hair solutions."

Draco looked at her with a slight look of pity before adding "And no dinner. I noticed you didn't make it to the Great Hall." As if on cue, her stomach gave a small rumble. "I thought as much. That is why I, the best roommate of all time, and quite the good thief, got you this." He reached to the floor beside the couch and pulled up a large, covered serving plate. He set the plate down on the coffee table and pulled off the lid to reveal that night's dinner. And a lot of it. He had grabbed a serving of every dish on table!

"Draco… how did you…." She decided it was better not to ask. Scooting closer to the table and taking the fork he offered her, she simply looked up at him, cheeks slightly red, and smiled. "Thank you, Draco. This was really kind of you."

"Yeah, we'll, don't go telling people. I have a reputation to uphold, you know."

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." She said as she took a big bite of minced pie. She considered as she swallowed, "Besides, who would believe me if I told them?" She laughed a little, her hair turning from black to gold rapidly.

"Fair enough." He smiled and sat down next to her, grabbing a piece of pie with his fingers before she could stop him. "Look at me, sharing food with a mud…. A Gryffindor" he quickly corrected himself. He was learning that calling Hermione a 'mudblood' was not gaining him any favors and he wanted to get out of this situation as soon as possible.

Hermione, choosing to ignore the word he started saying merely replied, "You'd be surprised what a bit of kindness can do for a person." She smiled, completely forgetting about her long, wasted day.

As she ate, they returned to a comfortable silence, Draco returning to the couch and his book and Hermione using her wand to conjure a glass of pumpkin juice, took a large swig before finishing the entire plate.

When she pushed it away from her now very full body, she sighed audibly. "Bloody hell, Granger, you finished that entire platter? How are you so thin?" Draco blushed at commenting on Hermione's figure and Hermione flushed that he had noticed.

"Well, I don't normally eat this much…" She tried to defend herself unsuccessfully. "This was kind of a very long day and I'm not used to not getting the results I want…."

Draco shrugged and leaned against the back of the couch again. "Well, however you put it, I just have to say I'm impressed." He rarely complimented anyone, let alone a Gryffindor, but after seeing a girl her size finish a platter that large definitely got his attention.

The two of them made eye contact and as Hermione quickly flushed and looked away, she noticed Draco did not. She noticed yellow highlights were creeping in around the gold in her hair, as she got nervous from a gaze she had never seen from Draco before. "Well, I'm beat. I think I'm gonna head to bed." Hermione faked a small yawn and stood up, walking toward the bathroom.

Draco's gaze fell to his hands as he realized that he had been staring at Hermione for quite some time. "Oh, right, well, goodnight…Hermione." Hermione stopped in her tracks. It was the first time that he had ever called her Hermione before. The way it rolled off his tongue sounded so natural… so right. It sent goose bumps all the way up her arms and down her spine.

"Goodnight, Draco." She kept her head turned away from him as she walked into the bathroom, a grin plastered on her face.

After brushing her hair and teeth and washing her face, she walked out of the bathroom to find that Draco had gone into his room for the night. Part of her wanted to knock on his door and the other part wanted to bolt into her room as fast as possible in case he came back out. Instead, her body did both. One leg went toward his room and the other leg stepped as fast as possible toward her door. She fell flat on her face.

Draco, hearing the fall, came out of his room quickly to see what the commotion was about. When he saw Hermione lying on the floor, he laughed out loud. "Granger," (_Back to that I see, _Hermione thought bitterly) "What the bloody hell are you doing on the floor?"

"Tripped… over a towel by the door." She made up stupidly.

"I don't see a towel." Draco observed, looking into the bathroom.

"Oh…erm, well, I don't know what it was then, but something definitely tripped me." Hermione felt her whole face flush and her hair turned bright orange, as she grew very upset over her stupidity. When a hand came into her vision, she took it and Draco lifted her with ease to her feet. He was very strong, she noticed.

"You sure you're all right, Granger? Your hair is turning green again."

_Curse my hair_, Hermione thought bitterly. It's becoming is nuisance again. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little embarrassed." She realized that they were still holding hands. She quickly let go and blushed. "Well, goodnight, Draco."

Draco walked over to her room and opened the door for her. "Goodnight, Hermione. Sleep well." After she walked in, he closed the door silently behind her and walked into his room.

The next morning Hermione awoke early to find Draco's door still closed. He was probably still sleeping, she figured, so she walked into the bathroom to take her sweet time in the shower. When she walked in, she realized Draco was not sleeping at all, but just getting out of the shower. If she had come in a second earlier, Draco wouldn't have had the towel wrapped around his waste. As it was, he was just tucking the loose end into the rest. "Not bothering to knock anymore, Granger?" Draco said, raising an eye at her. He was always very confident about his looks and did not bother to hide himself at all. As Hermione glanced him up and down she noticed he was confident with good reason. Draco noticed her glances and let it go a moment longer before clearing his throat to make sure she still knew he was there.

"Not bothering to look the door anymore, Malfoy?" She quickly recovered from her momentary stumble and looked back into his eyes. Their gazes met and Hermione knew that he was waiting for her to make the next move. "Right, well, I suppose I'll just wait for you to finish."

"No need, I was just about to step out. Without waiting for her move from the doorway, he slid by her, his back rubbing against her side in the process. She visibility shivered from the contact but took a step forward to try, unsuccessfully, to hide it.

"Um, well, thanks. I supposed I'll take my shower now."

"You do that." Draco suggested, winking.

Hermione closed and locked the door, turned on the water and stepped in. At least she had plenty of hot water to use. It would seem Draco took a quick shower this morning. She took her time in the shower this morning, mulling over what she witnessed this morning. Draco really did have an amazing body. His was rippled with muscles and tanner than he looked with his black robes on and just his face against his bleached hair visible.

When Hermione realized she'd been thinking about _Draco Malfoy's body_ in the shower, she quickly hopped out and grabbed her towel. Realizing that there were still suds in her hair, she turned the shower on cold and rinsed out before drying off. She tucked the towel tightly around her body and brushed out her long, curly, navy blue hair. _Navy blue… navy blue… what was that one again?_ She flipped through her memory and remembered that sheet of paper that explained the colors. _Oh my god. Romance. Really? With Malfoy?_ She nearly gagged. Okay hair, not cool. _This is Malfoy we're talking about. That's disgusting_. What she was really ashamed to think is that she wasn't all that surprised. The two of them have had a lot of built up rage toward each other, it was bound to come out in one form or another. But Hermione absolutely refused to accept this form. _He does one nice thing for me_ she thought to herself_ okay, two, the rose and the dinner, oh, and I guess I should probably count the Astronomy Tower, too. Wow, that's really adding up. But that's all within a week. We have 5 years of bad blood! Literally, our bloods don't mix…_.

She towel-dried her hair and, making sure the towel around her body was securely fastened, she hurried out of the bathroom and grabbed the handle to her bedroom door.

"Not so fast, Granger." Draco stopped her before she could turn the handle. "You see me in a towel, I get to see you."

Hermione turned around and glared at him. "You already saw me in a towel when you burst into the bathroom the other day."

"Yeah, but that was to save your life."

"Doesn't matter, you still had your chance."

"Yeah, well, I've gotten plenty to see just now." He said and winked.

Hermione had forgotten that she was only wearing a towel and quickly rushed into her room to change. Men were such pigs.

Draco smiled to himself having seen Hermione in a towel twice in one weekend. This was good even for his standards. Granted, Hermione was a Mudblood, but still, she certainly had a nice body." Draco grabbed his bag and walked out the door, thinking of Hermione the whole way down to breakfast. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't even think to grab his friends on the floor below on the way down. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't remember that he hated everyone in his house and sat down next to Ginny in the Great Hall for breakfast. She stared at him, a spoon laden with oatmeal inches from her mouth. Her eyes grew as wide as saucers as Draco grabbed a ladle of oatmeal for himself and poured it into his bowl. Ginny finally came to her senses and set the spoon down.

"Something I can help you with, Malfoy?" Ginny asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nope, just eating breakfast." Draco responded, still not fully realizing what he was doing. He had grown so accustom to his new relationship with Hermione that he had forgotten that he was still on very bad terms with the rest of her friends. Quickly regaining his composure, he looked at Ginny in the eye and turned his charm on full blast. "Sorry, Ginny" it physically hurt him to say her name, but he knew it was for a good cause, "I just thought that I would try to get to know you and that brother of yours and your boyfriend better since, you know, I'm stuck rooming with Hermione."

Ginny blushed when Draco had called Harry her boyfriend and her hair turned temporarily back to its original fiery red before shooting back to green. For a second she had thought that the stuff had worn off, and then she realized that the red meant love. _Oh no, I'm not going to be able to talk about Harry to anyone anymore, am I?_ She thought bitterly to herself and she checked to make sure that her hair was back to its obnoxious green color. She was just glad that Hermione had filled her in on what the colors represented.

In order to attempt to distract Draco from making any comments about the hair, she quickly responded to his statement, "Well, Malfoy, if that's what you really intend to do, I guess you can sit with us for now. Just remember, I'm the nice one." She said with a glare that left no room for mistake of what Ginny would do to him if he tried anything funny to Hermione or any of them.

"Noted." Draco said with his best attempt at a smile. It was hard to smile naturally to his mortal enemy.

At that moment, Harry and Ron sat down across from Ginny. They took a moment to take in what they were seeing before looking to Ginny for an explanation. "He says he wants to be our friends. Looks like Hermione's really done a number on him." She said with a laugh while Draco looked embarrassed.

"Not true, I was just saying that I want this project over with as quickly as possible and I'm pretty sure that it's safe to assume I'll have to get along with Granger's friends if I'm going to pass." He said quickly to cover his embarrassment.

"Right, well, just to be clear, I'll be chummy with you until this project is over because I know the hell we'll get if Hermione doesn't get a good grade. But, I still think you're a worthless git. Understand?" Ron told Draco sternly.

"Understood. And likewise." Draco replied, not breaking eye contact with Ron.

Hermione arrived just in time to distract the two. She seemed very confused about Draco sitting with her and her friends, but it didn't seem to faze her much as she said down beside him and grabbed some food for her plate.

"How are you hungry again?" Draco looked at Hermione, astonished.

Hermione blushed and looked at her plate of food. "Threw up after seeing you in a towel." She smirked.

Draco opened his mouth to retaliate, but for once, he had no comeback.

Everyone else just stared at Hermione, wondering why on earth she had seen Draco in a towel.

**Authors Notes:**

**All right, well, if you all want to review, that'd be great just so I know that after FIVE YEARS I still have some readers out there. Thanks guys. Hope you liked it. I know this chapter wasn't too funny, I'm just trying to get into the swing of things.**


	7. Whose Team Are You On?

**A/N: Huh, apparently getting married and finishing your last year of college and trying to start your own business really takes up more time than you'd think! My apologies. I'll be better, I promise! **

**I'm in Gryffindor?**

**Whose Team Are You On?**

As the week went on, Hermione and Draco had seen some major improvement to Draco's attitude. By Wednesday morning, he hadn't called her Granger (or any foul name) in two days and would only refer to her as Hermione. Draco was even charming toward Ginny who had become somewhat fond of having him around because he never failed to put Ron in his place when he was acting up, which always saved her the trouble. Draco doubted that he would ever be (or would ever want to be) on a first-name basis with Ronald Weasley, but the name-calling had stopped on both ends. Harry was willing to pretend to get along with Draco for the sake of Hermione, but he had a hard time believing that anything could ever change him from being the selfish git he knew was just below the surface.

By Wednesday Afternoon, Hermione had finally convinced Draco to try out for the Quidditch team that Friday. She even went with him down to the field to watch him practice. Ginny had volunteered to help him that morning and by four o'clock the three of them were at the field, Hermione sitting in the stands, and Draco and Ginny broom in hand. Ginny smiled reassuringly at Harry. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you get your fair chance with Harry. He's not stupid enough to try anything funny with all the other people around."

"Thanks, Ginny." Draco replied, not quite believing her. If Harry really didn't want him on the team, there was no way he would let him. "Right then, let's get this over with…." He kicked off on his broom and shot up in the air and headed toward the middle of the field flying about 20 meters above ground.

Ginny followed behind him, the quaffle in hand. "Okay, now the key to being a good chaser is to always know where your opponents are, where the bludgers are, and where your teammates are. And, of course, where the quaffle is." This was very different from being the seeker. When he was the seeker all he had to do was avoid the rest of the game and look for the snitch. This would take a lot more teamwork. Something that would be hard for him to do as a Slytherin on Gryffindor's team.

"Right. So know where everyone and everything is at all times. Got it." Draco said, feeling slightly put out. Sure, he had played chaser before, but never in a school match. This would be quite different and it would be hard for him to remember which side he was on. Only too easily would he take the quaffle from the Gryffindors and hand it over to the Slytherins without even realizing it. Draco mentally slapped himself. _You're a great Quidditch player. Just because you're on a different team, doesn't change the fact that you can win. Just concentrate, idiot!_

Ginny threw him the quaffle just then. He saw it out of the corner of his eye about a second before it hit him in the face. His reflexes told him to reach out and grab it and he did so. "Well done!" Ginny cheered! He could hear Hermione cheering from the stands as well. "I didn't warn you or anything. See, you have natural reflexes. That'll get you far." She smiled as Draco returned the quaffle to her. "Right then, for real this time. I want you to zigzag with me across the pitch and we'll pass it back and forth. Always pass when there's the smallest distance possible between us. Got it?"

Draco nodded in agreement and the two took off across the field. They moved like synchronized dancers, Hermione noticed. Streaks of blond and gold (Ginny was apparently happy) whirled past her. She didn't even see the quaffle move, but apparently they passed without fail because she saw as Draco slowed down at the last second at the far end to throw the quaffle through the center hoop.

"Excellent!" She called as they retrieved the quaffle and flew back toward her. "That was brilliant! You two work beautifully together!" She smiled and hugged Ginny who landed next to her. When Draco landed on her other side, she instinctively went to hug him as well and then thought better of it. She dropped her arms that were awkwardly clutching the air and cleared her throat. "If you keep that up, you'll get on the team for sure!"

"Thanks, Hermione," Draco said, breathing hard. It had taken a lot of concentration to maneuver with Ginny, watching her and the quaffle and making sure to stay on track. He knew it would be even more difficult with 5 more teammates on the field as well as 7 opponents. "Again?" he asked, turning to Ginny.

"Again." She responded with a smile. As Draco took off on his broom, Ginny turned toward Hermione and winked at her. "He's going to be just fine."

They practiced for two straight hours, moving more and more synchronized each time. By the time the sun started to set and they were going to call it quits for the day, Draco had gone a full 45 minutes without losing sight of the quaffle once.

As they landed on the field, Hermione came down to meet them, her face pink from cold and her voice horse from cheering so much. "You both played so well together!" She smiled and gave them both high-fives. "I'm really impressed on how quickly you caught on, Draco. It looked like you had been a chaser all your life"

Draco smiled and his cheeks started to turn red. He played it off as being cold and suggested that they went inside for dinner. When they got to the Great Hall, Draco didn't even look at the Slytherin table to search for his friends; he immediately sat down between Ginny and Hermione at the Gryffindor table and started serving himself some food. He offered Hermione the ladle and as she took it from him, their hands met. Her hair flashed navy blue and then back to gold. Draco glanced at her hair momentarily before going back to eating his food. Hermione flushed brightly when she saw her hair change colors. She suddenly stood up.

"You know, I'm not all that hungry, I think I'm going to go to the library again." She said as she walked toward the exit. Draco watched her the whole way, feeling bad and embarrassed at the same time. He wasn't sure how to react toward the feelings he was starting to have for Hermione. As Hermione walked out, he saw Crabbe, Goyle and Blaise Zabini follow her, grins on their face.

Draco excused himself from the table to follow them into the Entrance Hall. He walked so quickly and stared straight ahead that Ginny got concerned and followed him out the door. Draco looked around the Entrance Hall but saw no trace of any of them. He quickly dashed up the stairs that led toward the library and got to the landing just in time to see his three best friends circling Hermione with their wands pointed directly at her. Blaise had performed _Petrificus Totalus_ on her and she was on the ground, unable to move a muscle.

Her hair had turned brown, which if Draco recalled correctly meant fear. Crabbe had a malicious grin on his face as he turned to his comrades and asked, "What should we do with her?"

Blaise was about to respond when Draco stepped into the clearing, making himself visible. "You should let her go."

The three boys looked startled when they realized they had been discovered and then relaxed when they saw it was Draco. Blaise looked at Draco, his eyes narrow and he took a few steps toward him, away from Hermione. "Let her go? Come on, Draco. She's a filthy mudblood. Don't tell me being with the Gryffindors has softened you?"

Draco glanced at Hermione and then back at his three best friends as he assessed the situation. They had attacked Hermione when her back was turned. That was very low, even for a Slytherin. He had more pride than that, which is what he told them. "It's pretty low to attack a defenseless girl with her back turned. Even for you." He said through gritted teeth. He hated seeing Hermione lying on the ground like that and hated himself for hating it. "What was your plan exactly? Going to curse her and stuff her in a closet? What would that accomplish?"

"You've been spending far too much time with the mudblood, you know that? We thought we'd take care of your little problem for you since you don't seem to have the courage to do it yourself. You should be thanking us." Blaise said through gritted teeth.

"Thanking you? You're going to get yourselves expelled. Is that what you want? You really think she's worth that?" He was trying to make himself come off as nonchalant, but the harder he tried, the most desperate he sounded.

Blaise saw right through his attempts and laughed. "You have feelings for the mudblood, don't you? You've been completely whipped by her and the rest of her Gryffindor gang. I expected more from you, Malfoy. It hasn't even been two weeks and you're already standing up for them against your best friends! It's time for you to decide. Whose team are you on? We saw you practicing Quidditch with the Weasley girl. Thinking about trying out for the team? Going to turn against the Slytherins? Your family? All for a filthy mudblood? You really have changed, Malfoy." Blaise spat on the ground next to Draco's feet and turned to face Crabbe and Goyle. "Come on, guys. Malfoy's not with us anymore."

As Blaise reached the others where Hermione was, he smiled an evil smile at Draco. He pointed his wand at Hermione's face and said, "Enjoy looking at her now. _Furnunculus!_" Boils appeared on Hermione's face and she let out a silent scream, her eyes bulging.

"_Expelliarmus!"_ Draco yelled, his wand pointed directly at Blaise. Ginny had just arrived on scene and yelled the same curse at him. Blaise was blasted back in a statue and knocked unconscious. Crabbe and Goyle took one look at the pair, knew they were no match, and ran the opposite direction. Ginny sent her famous bat-bogey hex after each of them and hit them each square in the back of the head. They fell to the ground, grabbing their faces before getting back up and running off.

Draco ran over to Hermione and performed the counter spell. Tears were running down her face as she sat up. Ginny rushed over to them and put her arms around Hermione. Hermione began to sob into her shoulder, trying to hide her vulnerable state from Draco. Draco turned away, letting her have her moment without interruption. After a few minutes, he quietly suggested to Ginny that they get her to the Hospital Wing so that Madam Pomfrey could take care of the boils.

Draco and Ginny helped lift Hermione off the floor and, with their support; she made her way to the Hospital Wing. Her hair was rapidly changing between black, orange and brown before it finally settled on green "mixed emotions". **(A/N: for a reminder of what each color represents, see chapter 5)**. When they reached the Hospital Wing, they set her down on the nearest empty bed and went to get Madam Pomfrey. Before explaining the situation to her, Draco asked Ginny if they could possibly leave the names out of it. He may not have approved of their actions, but he knew it would be much worse for Hermione and himself if he ratted them out. Ginny agreed only because she knew what could happen to Hermione if she was the reason three Slytherins got expelled. They agreed to say that they found her in the hallway like that didn't get a chance to see who was behind it.

After explaining everything to Madam Pomfrey, she didn't seem to believe their story, but didn't persist because she knew Hermione needed her attention more than she needed facts. She examined Hermione's face and told everyone that it would be simple enough to cure, but Hermione would need to stay the night. She also questioned why on earth Hermione's hair was green. Ginny explained the situation quickly and then asked if she had any way of fixing it. "How about a wig?" Madam Pomfrey suggested with a small smile. "Unfortunately I'm not sure what can be done for this. You said it was your brothers who did this? There's really no telling what they used… However, I will do some research and get back to you. Would you mind if I took a small lock of your hair to test some things?" Ginny nodded and Madam Pomfrey went to grab scissors. When she returned and snipped a few inches from the back of Ginny's head, the clippings immediately turned back to her originally fiery red. "Oh dear," Madam Pomfrey said. "Well, unfortunately the problem seems to be internal and not just on the hair… once your hair is removed, it goes back to its original state which means I can't test it."

Hermione and Ginny both groaned and a few more tears came out of Hermione's eyes. She was way too emotional right now to get any more bad news, Draco realized. "We should let Hermione get some rest." He said to Ginny and when she looked at Hermione and saw the tears flowing silently from her eyes she agreed. "Do you want us to get you anything? Some food or something from your room?" Draco was being very considerate, something that surprised Ginny, Hermione and Madam Pomfrey. She had healed Draco enough to know that this was not normal behavior for him. Really, he just felt responsible for what happened to her and wanted to do anything he could to make it up to her.

"I wouldn't mind a book." Hermione said, trying to smile. I've got one that I was reading sitting on my bed. Would you mind…?"

"Not at all." Draco smiled kindly (a very unusual look for him). "I'll be right back."

He and Ginny left the Hospital Wing to go grab the book from Hermione's bed. After retrieving it and bringing it back to her, they both said goodnight and left her to get some rest.

"Do you think we should tell Harry and Ron?" Ginny asked arching her eyebrow. "I don't think they'd take it very well. They'd want blood."

"Are you going to be able to keep a secret from your boyfriend and brother?"

Ginny shrugged, "I'll manage. But if your 'friends' ever come near any of us again, I'll go straight to Dumbledore." Her eyes looked malicious and Draco didn't doubt what she'd do for a second.

"Deal," he agreed. "And after tonight, I'm not sure 'friend' is the right word to use." He sighed. I think I'm just about out of friends at this point."

"Nah, you've still got one." Ginny smiled and nudged Draco with her elbow. "Well, goodnight, Draco!" She said and headed towards the Gryffindor common room.

"Goodnight, Ginny." Draco said. _Yeah, tonight was definitely a night of firsts… _Draco thought. _Friends with a Weasley? Not a part of Slytherin anymore? This is going to take some getting used to_. He sighed and shrugged and headed back towards his room on the sixth floor. He had never felt more alone and confused in his life. And yet, he was happy….


End file.
